Chapter 93
Nadia couldn’t take her eyes off Philome’s smile.
Philome’s smile wasn’t feigned. Nadia was certain it was genuine, not an act.
“Don’t just smile beautifully; hurry back and rest.”
Kaien lightly kissed Philome’s cheek.
Philome closed her eyes briefly and nodded.
“I will. You’re going to the snowy plains, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”
“I know.”
Just a moment ago, during the meeting, Kaien’s gaze had seemed to be swirling with a blizzard, but now it was as warm as the spring sunshine.
Even Johannes, who was seeing Kaien for the first time, could feel the difference.
After sending Philome away, Kaien turned back with a cold expression.
“Have you seen enough? You should at least be preparing during this time.”
After clicking his tongue, he left the meeting room.
Before long, only Winston, Nadia, and Johannes remained in the meeting room.
It was Johannes who broke the silence.
“No, Saintess. What are you doing making decisions on your own again? The sorcerer told you not to go to the snowy plains at all. You shouldn’t face monsters for too long if you can help it.”
“But if I kept holding out then, it would have looked too strange.”
“……In this case, Nadia is right. Kaien probably thought there was something going on, especially since… he doesn’t trust me.”
Johannes began to pace nervously.
“Is the plan falling apart going to make the sorcerer angry? We can still meet him, right?”
“Calm down. If we follow the sorcerer’s orders, he will contact us again someday.”
“I’m worried because we’ve already acted against those orders.”
“With the Saintess here, the sorcerer won’t abandon us.”
At those words, Johannes couldn’t feel completely reassured, but he nodded nonetheless.
“Then I will stay at the castle. You two go to the snowy plains.”
“What do you plan to do at the castle?”
“Well, I… I need to guard the Saintess’s room! We can’t let the box be discovered.”
“Don’t worry. Who would dare to search my room, being the Saintess?”
That was true.
Even if the door were wide open, there wouldn’t be anyone bold enough to rummage through that place.
Winston, who was about to agree, paused.
He felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. But no matter how he thought about it, there was no one who would daringly enter the saintess’s room.
“Then let’s prepare for now.”
Winston quickly pushed his thoughts aside.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“Hmm, okay.”
Philome looked around the room.
The rather large guest room wasn’t extravagant, but it had everything necessary. The furniture and wallpaper weren’t new, but they didn’t look shabby either; they were just right for a Saintess to use.
“Shall I give it a try?”
Philome rolled up her sleeves.
“Um, Miss, is this really okay?”
Sophia stood anxiously beside her.
“It’s fine, Sophia.”
“But it’s the Saintess’s room…”
“Anyway, there’s no one here, right? You saw her heading to the snowy plains earlier.”
Even with no room for rebuttal, Sophia still felt anxious and buried her face in her palms.
“Ugh, I don’t know!”
Philome hadn’t expected Sophia to help search the room anyway, so she pointed to the door.
“That’s why I’m telling you to stay outside with Sir Jake.”
“Miss, you really need to be careful, okay?”
Seeing Sophia so worried, Philome decided to reassure her by sharing a secret.
“Sophia, I haven’t told anyone this, but…”
“What is it?”
“I’ve searched the prince’s room before. Don’t worry.”
“Whaaat?!”
Philome quickly sent the surprised Sophia out of the room.
Then she began to thoroughly search the room. The dressing room was filled with thin clothes that could never be worn in the North.
Philome realized that some of those clothes were similar to what Nadia had worn when she picked flowers in the greenhouse during her stay at Duke Wintbell’s.
‘She tends to keep things that make her stand out, so she probably wouldn’t hide them in the dressing room.’
For the same reason, she didn’t touch the jewelry box.
Remembering what she had heard from Rita, who served Nadia, she scanned the room.
“She said she stopped me from organizing the slippers…”
That was when she had finished preparing to go to bed.
Philome visualized the situation in her mind as she gazed at the bed. Suddenly, she noticed a gap under the bed.
“…No way. She couldn’t have hidden it in such an easy place.”
Still, with a glimmer of hope, Philome reached out and felt under the bed.
“It’s really here.”
Philome let out a short exclamation as she pulled something out from under the bed. It was an old box that she could hardly imagine Nadia possessing.
Without hesitation, Philome opened the box and froze in place.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
‘I wonder if they’ve discovered something by now.’
Kaien thought of Philome, who had said she would search the room once Nadia left.
It had been over thirty minutes since they left the castle, so it was about time for them to be searching Nadia’s room.
Imagining her bustling around like a squirrel looking for acorns brought a smile to his face. The feeling of being weighed down by the situation with Winston and Nadia heading to the snowy plains lifted in an instant.
He wanted to return quickly, but to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, he had to give Philome ample time, so Kaien adjusted his pace to avoid rushing.
As they got closer to the snowy plains, Kaien’s tension increased.
Last night, Philome and Kaien had visited Theodore’s office and had a four-way conversation.
From that discussion, they inferred that Winston was involved in sorcery.
The empress had been colluding with sorcerers for a long time, and her son, Winston, had come to the North just as a monster awakened due to sorcery.
He likely came as a knight, not as the third prince, to lower the North’s guard while checking if the monster had awakened properly or for some other task.
Therefore, Kaien planned to keep an eye on what Winston and Nadia were doing in the snowy plains. However, unexpectedly, they seemed quite flustered and wanted to remain in the castle.
Contrary to his assumptions, it meant that the place they intended to conduct their business was not the snowy plains, but the castle.
‘Should I increase Philome’s escort?’
Though Jake was an excellent knight, Kaien couldn’t help but worry.
Having seen how Nadia dealt with the monster made him even more anxious. She might use that power against Philome.
‘Should I just get rid of her?’
Kaien glanced back at Nadia.
Since she had thrown a fit about not being able to ride such a large northern horse alone, she was now riding with Winston.
It suddenly occurred to him that eliminating them wouldn’t be a bad idea.
This place was the snowy plains. Moreover, it was uncertain when or where the monster might awaken.
In such a situation, someone could die. There was no guarantee that that someone wouldn’t be Nadia.
It would be just perfect if Winston also died in the process.
“We have arrived.”
Dale, who had been leading the way, came to a halt.
What lay before them was a vast expanse of hills covered in snow as far as the eye could see—the snowy plains.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
To be precise, since the entire North was covered in snow, one could say that the whole North was a snowy plain.
However, there was a reason why the land where the monster slept was referred to as the snowy plains.
It was simply because the closer one got to that land, the lower the temperature became. The difference was significant enough to be felt; hence the name snowy plains.
“Everyone, please travel in groups of at least three and do not enter the center. Stay on the outskirts and ensure that at least one northern knight accompanies you.”
Dale briefly explained the rules of the area once more.
Winston and Nadia formed one group, which Kay joined. Since Kay was a close aide of Theodore, he could somewhat control Winston and Nadia even if they acted on their own.
To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Kaien secretly attached two knights to their group and then looked around the snowy plains.
Returning to the snowy plains after about five days felt similar to before. The unpleasant and murky energy lingering in the air made it occasionally feel suffocating.
